Written by Kerrie Alexander
A luring sign that read “Feng Shui can change your life” was intriguing enough for a 16-year-old Michelle Reid to pay for a sitting at a Brisbane psychic fair.
The consultant advised Michelle on how to bring harmony and balanced chi energy to her home and after moving around the bed to the best facing position, Michelle seemingly had good luck for the rest of the year.
The ancient Chinese practice of arranging pieces in living spaces to create balance with the natural world, had worked!
While teenage life got in the way of pursuing more knowledge in the practice, Michelle always followed astrology, horoscopes and as a spiritual person, enjoyed attending psychic fairs.
In 2000, a visit to a friend’s new home on the Gold Coast reignited the yearning to learn more about the practice after a feng shui consultant was paid to come in to arrange objects and space in the environment to achieve harmony and balance using formulas from a form score and annual stars.
Michelle became friends with Perry the consultant and the friendship resulted in tutelage every Wednesday night at feng shui workshops and later lead to formal training.
“I didn’t think I had a (psychic) gift or anything but my friend showed me what Perry had done, moving beds and furniture around according to the formulas, and it was fascinating,” Michelle said.
“I had learnt quite a bit from Perry at the workshops but I knew there was more to it so when she actually started teaching I jumped into her class and since then I have been immersed in feng shui.”
The pinnacle and belief in her training came in 2015 when she took the advice of the training practitioner and placed a note of intention in a metal “wishing box” and placed it in a spot that the stars and formula for that year read as lucky.
“One of the workshops with Perry said that year’s stars showed a strong energy for luck in the north-east area of the home.
“So, I wrote out a note with my intention which was money for a new couch, and then put it in place. I didn’t think about it all the time but it was there, no worries.
“I’d actually given up on it until I did my tax at the end of that financial year and because I only had a part-time job, I was only expecting $500 back. I got $5000!
“It was just so unexpected. I rang the tax office and asked where this money was coming from.
“That year, I couldn’t do anything wrong.”
Michelle, 60, has now made a business out of doing feng shui in other people’s homes using the score forms, the annual stars and the elements of balance including water, fire, earth, wood and metal.
“These elements are all very much intertwined into every element of feng shui. They are assigned to each direction and each number in the flying stars which represent them flying into different parts of your life.
“When it comes to providing good fortune, good luck and good vibes, you have better outcomes on different dates.
“The study of feng shui is the movement of life energy around the good and the bad, positive and negative. It’s like magic mixed with science.”
Other training includes how to select “luckier” dates for things like signing important contracts, weddings and job interviews, as well as choosing a space with the best vibe in the home to make life-changing decisions.
“It’s a big balancing act and that’s where, as a practitioner, I come in and try to balance everything in their life to get opportunities to have better luck and a better life.
“If you’re thinking about making a big decision in your life, you’re best to go to one of those areas. That will stop the blocks from happening.
“That’s what I find personally. I find that it’s amazing how it works.”
This year’s stars say the south, south-west, north and the west are the best areas of the home for good luck this year.
In Michelle’s home, you will find a lucky bamboo plant in the centre of the house to enhance the centred positives and a yellow ribbon with six coins hanging in the west to add more positive energy.
“I feng shui my home to keep it comfortable and have trust that nothing bad will happen this year.”
According to ancient findings, if possible, you also need a support building at the back of the home, something higher on the left, something lower on the right and water at the front of the home to promote good life energy.
“Thousands of years ago scholars would make observations of people in their different villages and there was a correlation between where people lived and how prosperous they were.
“It came to light in their observations that the most abundant villages were the ones where they had mountains at the back, hills on each side and water at the front.
“Those things brought good energy through the movement of the life force and then the water collects it. That’s why the placement of water is important to the outcome that people are looking for.”
Michelle said nine times out of ten her clients’ intentions are to gain more wealth.
However, you must be open to the outcome of the session for change to happen.
“I have learnt that intention has a lot to do with outcomes and if you didn’t think something was going to work, you wouldn’t pay out money to have it done.
“For most people it’s about more money and more success, or just more in general.
“I need to find out what problems have they been having in their life so then I can work out what is affecting them.
“I then go away and calculate everything else to see how the energy is moving through their home and see if it matches up to what they say.”
Michelle said it could be something as simple as changing the door you walk through to get rid of negative energy.
“The front door might have negative energy through it, and they are walking in and out of it every day and bringing negativity into the home.
“So it might be that they need to change how they enter the house.
“The area where they are spending most of their time might not be so great, so we use forms and formulas through the flying stars to see what is negatively affecting them and positively affecting them.
“We are either enhancing that element and making sure it’s stronger or we are trying to negate it because it’s too strong and needs weaking or trying to balance it. It’s like a big, long scale.”
The highlight of her career, Michelle said, is seeing great outcomes for her clients.
“I just really love it! I love it when it works for me and I love it when I get great feedback from clients.
“I just feel better.
“It’s not spiritual. It’s more about the science and the magic.
“It’s not spiritual. It’s more about the science and the magic. I am a spiritual person and can bring that to it to a certain extent but it’s not something that I bring into the feng shui itself.
“It’s all about intention and the goal… finding out what the client is looking for.
“There are people out there that need this. It’s just finding them and talking to them in their language.”
To find out more visit michellereidfengshui.com.